A Time to Reflect

Earth is like a school that provides you with many opportunities to learn life lessons. However, when you cling to what you have always done and believed, you leave less room for God to come in and transform you.When you study the message of Jesus, it is one of transformation, change, growth, maturity, letting go of fear and learning to trust God. It is important that we take time to reflect and purge as needed to make room for more of everything God wants to bring into our lives in the new year. The end of the year is a great time to do this. Some of you have had a great year and are eagerly awaiting 2017, while others of you have had a difficult year and are not so sure 2017 is going to be any better. Either way, taking the time to reflect on the past year can be very helpful; what worked, what failed, what you learned and how you grew in different areas of your life. You can then take this information and use it to help you set new goals for the coming year.

For myself, I divide my life into the following areas: spiritual, physical, personal, social/relationships, business and financial. When I was raising our kids, I also had a family category. At the end of each year I look back on the goals I had set for myself in each of these areas and see how many of them I accomplished, what I learned and how I grew from the year’s experiences. When you do this, you want to be kind to yourself and not beat yourself up for things not accomplished or perceived failures. Each new year is an opportunity to forgive yourself, release the things that did not work and start over. I then look to the next year coming and adjust my goals for what I want to accomplish. I spend some time in prayer and meditation seeking the Holy Spirit for guidance in what God’s will is for my life and what I need to do to bring it about.

Do not fear the coming year. You get to participate in how it turns out through the choices you make and how you choose to respond rather than react to the world, people and circumstances around you. Your beliefs determine your thoughts which determine your emotions and actions. Choose wisely and 2017 can be your best year ever!

January Counseling Special

Setting your goals for the new year with a plan in place to achieve them